Contents

The dynamo known as Jeremy Roenick is one of the very rare sports video game athletes to dominate on both offense and defense. Anyone who's played Electronic Arts' 16-bit hockey video games starting with NHL Hockey knows that every skater bows to the whims of Roenick, who lets gamers shape contests as they see fit.

"Roe" in NHL '94 is essentially a far speedier, harder hitting, and better-conditioned version of Ice Hockey's The Fat Guy. He rocks a 95 out of 100 player rating (a rank that only Ed Belfour, Patrick Roy, and Steve Yzerman are also able to obtain), which, in layman's terms, means that he kicks ass aplenty. With the puck in his possession, no. 27 can cut a speedy deke to shake defenders, setting himself up for a gimme goal. Or, if the person holding the controller is feeling particularly ballsy, Roenick can just make like the Juggernaut and bowl over defensemen. When the Roenick's stick touches the puck, it's just hat trick after hat trick, and it just becomes funnier with each new score (unless you're the opposing team).

In addition, EA's programmers gave Roenick the checking power of a gorilla. If someone with the puck even attempts to skate in Roenick's direction, their next move is to taste either the ice or the boards. On top of that, Roenick appeases bloodthirsty gaming geeks by knuckling up at the drop of a hat.—Next: Number 2 >

For more than a decade, Jeffrey L. Wilson has penned gadget- and video game-related nerd-copy for a variety of publications, including 1UP, 2D-X, The Cask, Laptop, LifeStyler, Parenting, Sync, Wise Bread, and WWE. He now brings his knowledge and skillset to PCMag as Senior Analyst.
When he isn't staring at a monitor (or two) and churning out Web hosting, music, utilities, and video game copy, Jeffrey mentors, practices Jeet Kune Do, blogs, podcasts, and speaks at the occasional con. He also collects vinyl and greatly enjoys...
More »